Page 10 of Bound to the Mafia King

“Don’t look away from me when I’m talking to you.” His tone was firm and authoritative.

“Valerio, please,” I breathed the words, my voice just a decibel above a whisper. “My fiancé will be here any second, and if he sees me like this with you I?—”

He moved his hand from my chin down to my neck and gripped me tightly. “Your fiancé? Sergei?”

“Yes, and we both know what kind of man he is. And seeing as I saved your life, I would like you to extend the courtesy to me and move away from me before he or my brother see us like this.”

I was no fool. I knew what I was getting myself into with this man. He was cruel and callous and had no remorse for people. His bark was loud, and his bite was even harder. I knew that,when dealing with a man like him, I needed to play within the lines he had set and never stray from them.

His eyes raged with an emotion I could not quite decipher. It looked like a mixture of anger and disappointment.

“You can’t marry him.”

“You can’t tell me what I can and cannot do. You aren’t my keeper, Valerio.” I placed my hand over his wrist and tried to pull his hand from my neck. “And besides, I don’t even know you. You have no right to try and insert yourself in my familial affairs.”

“I think us sharing a near-death experience makes us more than familiar. Tell me, what would happen if your brother found out?”

My heart lurched. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“I am only speaking hypothetically,cielo. Why do you want to keep our meeting a secret?”

“I don’t owe you an explanation.” I pulled at his wrist harder, but he wouldn’t budge. I hated not being strong enough to defend myself. I hated feeling powerless against men like him. Not only did I lack the power to have autonomy over my own life, but I lacked the physical strength to free myself. “I saved your life, Valerio. Had it not been for me, you would have died in a ditch that night, whilst the rain pelted down on your body. I have already lost everything in my life because of that night. The least you could do is step away from me as to not cause issues in my life. You go your way, and I go mine.”

The words all slipped from my lips all at once. I had not intended for it all to come out like that, but there it was. The last few weeks had been a whirlwind, with the engagement announcement and the fact I had to give up dance to appease my husband-to-be. The one thing that had been an escape for me, was now gone and ripped from me.

“Please.” I stared directly into his eyes.

Sergei was due to arrive any moment. I could not let him see me here with him.

I could not tell what was going on in his mind. But one moment his grip tightened ever so slightly around my throat, and the next he released me and pushed me away from his body.

His eyes looked me over a few times before he turned on his heels and walked away from me. I watched his retreating body for a second, not sure what had just happened. The entire interaction had left me feeling confused, exhilarated, and breathless. It was a flurry of emotions that filtered into my bloodstream, wreaking havoc on my system.

“Anastasia.” That voice sent a cold shiver down my spine.

I snapped my neck to the left and made eye contact with that devilish gaze. His glacier irises reminded me of a blizzard storm in Siberia. The snow was so cold that it would frost the Earth so nothing could ever grow. It sucked all life from everything, making it possible for only the toughest and most resilient plants to survive. The same could be said about the man who stood in front of me.

I shook off whatever feelings I had toward Valerio and made my way to my betrothed. From his expression alone I could tell that he was not happy, which meant that I needed to tread lightly.

I walked up to him with the same rehearsed smile I had perfected over the years. He had a fixed scowl on his face, and I could tell that he wasn’t happy at all. I gulped, trying to calm myself from the internal storm that raged on in my body.

As soon as I came in front of him, he gripped my wrist roughly and pulled me toward him with such force that I felt my shoulder pop. I tried not to show any sort of pain, but it was hard when the tendons in my shoulder blades were screaming at me.

“I told you not to wander on your own,” he hissed at me. “You are not permitted to be alone. You are my woman now.”

No one was in the hallway to see any of this happening. Which meant that we were all alone. The fear bubbled up in my chest.

“I just needed the bathroom. Don’t worry, I was perfectly safe—ah! You’re hurting me, Sergei.” He pulled me closer to his chest, and the pain in my wrist increased. “Sergei, please.”

He drew his face closer to mine but, unlike the man who had been in his place only a few short minutes ago, his breath made me recoil.

“Must I teach you another lesson,korotyshka?” he seethed. I could feel the heat rolling off of him in waves.

I still carried the marks from his last lesson. I was not interested in having to endure more torture for him.

I shook my head. “It won’t happen again, Sergei.”

He withdrew from me and looked me up and down. “It better not. And you’ve gained weight. No future wife of mine will let herself go. I will send over a list of foods you need to cut out.”

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